India’s Supreme Court wants the Delhi government to crack down on big, fat Indian weddings to curb food wastage — and a policy could be in place by next month

The Delhi government is formulating a policy to curb food wastage at extravagant weddings after the matter was flagged in a Supreme Court order rolled out on 6 December, PTI reported.

The bench, headed by Justice Madan B Lokur, has marked 31 January, 2019 as the last date for Delhi government to formulate the policy and enable its implementation, to benefit citizens.

Usually, all of the leftover food from such weddings goes to waste. It is alleged that stale food in consequent weddings leading to major health problems.

Amid the high wedding season in India’s capital, Delhi government is working on formulating a policy to curb food wastage at extravagant weddings along with limiting the number of guests at such functions after the Supreme Court’s directive,
PTIreported.

A bench directed by Justice Madan B Lokur was formed. Vijay Kumar Dev, Delhi Chief Secretary, reportedly told the bench that the issue has been discussed after it was flagged in a court order rolled out on 6 December.

According to one Delhi government official, Dev also said that there was ‘artificially enhanced demand’ to have such outrageous wedding functions in Delhi, said the report.

To address the issue, the government has suggested that wedding organisers should work with with NGOs that provide food to the needy, under the Food Safety and Standards Act.

The bench said that the first step should be to formulate a policy followed by its implementation. The council for Delhi government said that it took eight weeks to roll out the policy and register caterers under the Food Safety and Standards Act.